Lets get Lechmere off the hook!

[MrBarnett]

The connection is precisely what I said it was - walking the closest way from Berner Street to Mitre Square, would be using his old working trek from James Street to Broad street.

The killer would hav had multiple choices for what route to take after Berner Street, but he chose the route Lechmere had walked for many years of a daily basis, and which he knew intimately.

It impresses me.

But why? Why did he use a route that he was familiar with but which took him in the opposite direction from home?

Couldn't it just be that his blood lust wasn't sated and he headed for St Botolphs where he could expect to find another victim ?

Gary

[Chris]

The connection is precisely what I said it was - walking the closest way from Berner Street to Mitre Square, would be using his old working trek from James Street to Broad street.

You're saying his old route from Commercial Road to Broad Street would have taken him to "the Mitre Square area" - meaning Middlesex Street, or something like that?

[MrBarnett]

You're saying his old route from Commercial Road to Broad Street would have taken him to "the Mitre Square area" - meaning Middlesex Street, or something like that?

Chris,

Houndsditch would seem the most obvious choice. Close to Mitre Square, but not so close that he would necessarily be familiar with its exits and entrances.

MrB

[Sally]

Conveniently...? It is not just 1888 that is missing - and it´s no odd thing. My old newspaper have archives too. The paper has been around since 1848, but the archives begin in the nineteentwenties.

The best,
Fisherman

Quite right Fish - it's all very hit and miss to put it simply.

I'm sure there's nothing odd in the non-survival of Pickfords archives from 1888 - disappointing as it may be.

[Bridewell]

Plus, the fact that Lechmere gave a false name has been given a lot of emphasis in discussions. There could be several reasons why he gave the surname of his stepfather, Thomas Cross, instead of his own.

He could have been wary of the police, didn't want to get involved so gave the first surname that popped into his head. He was late for work and just said anything to get away. If this was suspicious behaviour why did he bother giving his correct address?

At Polly's inquest Lechmere was obviously pulled away from his work and just didn't want to be there, as evidenced by the fact that he wore his (work) sacking apron to the court. He knew he wasn't going to be paid for time away from his employment.

(My italics)

Or perhaps he thought that he would be paid if Pickfords didn't realise that the witness, Charles Cross, was their carman, Charles Lechmere.

[Bridewell]

I think he almost had to have done so: they were reported as poking through the wound before she was moved.

She was wearing stays, so I think the chances of her killer having got his hand into her abdomen are remote.

[Tom_Wescott]

The stays shouldn't have been an impediment to the killer.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Bridewell]

You see, it takes a lot to fit ALL the sites.

Indeed it does, but then a man who passed ALL the sites on his way to work would have to be pissed, lost or bonkers. Then again, as Lechmere is supposed to have been descended from a a high-born family, I guess he may have been all three!

N.B. This is posted tongue in cheek, Fish - I am aware that you don't think that was the case with Stride.

[Bridewell]

The stays shouldn't have been an impediment to the killer.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Not an impediment to getting his hand(s) into her abdomen?

[Bridewell]

If he killed Stride, then his working route for many years when walking to Broad Street from James Street, would have taken him directly to the Mitre Square area.

The best,
Fisherman

Did he travel to work between 1am and 2am on Sundays then?

[Tom_Wescott]

Not an impediment to getting his hand(s) into her abdomen?

No, not at all. I've actually been studying up on the stays. I'm grateful to Dr. Llewellyn for being such a horrid criminalist and suspecting that Polly had been murdered elsewhere, redressed, and dumped on Buck's Row. If not for this error in judgement, a lot of the evidence revealed at the inquest never would have been discussed.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Bridewell]

No, not at all. I've actually been studying up on the stays. I'm grateful to Dr. Llewellyn for being such a horrid criminalist and suspecting that Polly had been murdered elsewhere, redressed, and dumped on Buck's Row. If not for this error in judgement, a lot of the evidence revealed at the inquest never would have been discussed.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

In that case, I concede the point. Thanks, Tom.

[Tom_Wescott]

In that case, I concede the point. Thanks, Tom.

I wrote out a long report on the stays for my next book. But I think I'll either edit it down or shove it to the appendices. However, it was interesting to me that two inspectors disagreed with each other over the stays. Robert Mann helped to solve the mystery.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[K-453]

I just watched the documantary on YouTube and noticed that much of the "evidence" came from newspapers. But newspapers are no reliable sources.


PS: Fisherman, it's encouraging how you stand getting all that stick here. What would Ripperology be if no one dared to come forward with theories?

[Tom_Wescott]

I just watched the documantary on YouTube and noticed that much of the "evidence" came from newspapers. But newspapers are no reliable sources.


PS: Fisherman, it's encouraging how you stand getting all that stick here. What would Ripperology be if no one dared to come forward with theories?

Newspapers are not nearly as unreliable as people often say. You just have to use discretion. Also, newspapers are the only available source for inquest evidence. Fortunately, a variety of papers covered the inquests with their own reporters.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott